Property Malaysia

With the boom after condos and apartments along this really happening street, we were quite interested to take a look at this latest project. But what greeted us something entirely different from what we expected, and it was only after some deliberation that we decided to include a review of the place here in Property Malaysia.

But first on the location – when we say boom, it definitely is one. Long time ago, there was only he Mesiniaga building, Subang Parade (plus that small gardening shop behind it), Wisma Consplant, and some government offices here in Section 16 of Subang Jaya, right in front of the KTM Komuter station and second hand car showroom. Later came Wisma Tractors, and Carrefour. But in the past few years a few condos appearing here is set to transform this rather docile business district into something more vibrant. Some of the ones along this road are as follows:

Saujana Residency
One Subang
Subang Avenue
Tiaraville (including e-tiara)
Jana Towers (this one went all wonky until just recently. Besides, this one is also bit up the road)

And now, there is another huge project to add more cars to the roads – Empire Subang. Let’s get one thing straight – this is a massive commercial and investment project, targeting businesses and investors. At the centre of it is Empire Gallery, a 3-storey shopping centre, set to grab the limelight from neighbouring Subang Parade (which is beginning to show its age despite a recent facelift). Above the Empire Gallery is a tower of SOHO units, and at each flank are two other towers, one is a soon-to-be launched office block, and another is a hotel Empire Suites.

The way they’ve set up the hotel is really different – investors are invited to buy ‘units’ (actually the hotel rooms or suites), and rent it back to management for a Guaranteed Rental Return of 8% (it’s really about 7% if you read the fine print about maintenance fees). The setup here is rather complicated to get into, and since it isn’t a property for residence, it is outside the scope of Property Malaysia. Nevertheless, sales have been good and at the time we viewed it, only a handful units of the 217 were left unsold. For the record, the room sizes are from 368 to 522sq.ft. and units cost about RM169k – RM252k.

Obviously the office block and shopping gallery is also outside the coverage of our blog, but the only area we can cover is the SOHO units, which is also considered borderline. Why so? Most of the buyers, we feel will be investors looking to rent out to small businesses. There are only 2 type of units available, a smaller one at 793 or 797sq.ft. (a slight variation of the layout accounts for the extra space) and there are also very limited number of units at a larger 1,193sq.ft.

Actually, this unit layout is also quite confusing, and we’re betting a lot of people will caught unawares of it. The brochure shows the layout to a single floor of 542sq.ft. But it doesn’t mention that the unit comes with a ‘renovation package’ which adds a mezzanine half floor to your unit. However, ALL units come with this ‘renovation package’ and you can’t choose not to have it, it pretty much comes with your unit during handover. That’s how they account for the 793sq.ft. and 1,193sq.ft. instead of just 542sq.ft. Why then call it a ‘renovation package’? And why confuse people with the different build-up. Perhaps one reason is that the maintenance fee is calculated based on 542sq.ft.

That aside, the unit is studio style and is designed for SOHO, so to speak. There is a small entrance foyer, and the unit is split into two, front being the dining, and the kitchen taking up the back. In the kitchen there is a stairways going up to the mezzanine floor which house a bedroom half the size of the unit. So the dining room has a double volume height. So where’s the ‘Small Office’ part of the SOHO? Well according to them, the entire lower floor can be converted into one, but you won’t have a dining nor kitchen, now would you? What we can see is the whole unit will be an office – upstairs will be made into an office room or store, not a living space.

There is a skybar lounge on the 8th floor of the SOHO block, but you need to be a member to access that area, which means you need to pay more if you want to join. But this lounge is also used by the hotel, so it isn’t an exclusive place as you would expect. There are 30 SOHO units per floor, and all in all there are 8 levels of units. Each unit does not come with any parking at all, you need to rent monthly from the management. All 4 different components of this development will have separate entrances, but they all lead out to the same road, the one that will be quite heavily trafficked when all the condos here are completed.

Anyway, as we said, this whole development is commercial through and through, and it is doing very well in terms of sales. I doubt anyone will want to buy and stay here, since there are other more viable choices around here with better facilities and ambience. So the whole feel of the place will be quite impersonal and different, but if you’re looking to locate your small business, or invest in a GRR scheme, there probably are a few units left here.

The company behind this project has also developed the Loft and the Ara in Bangsar.